Ian Watt Speaking at Tom Ferry's Realtor Event in San Diego

Blog by Ian Watt | November 4th, 2009

Vancouver Condo Real Estate Video Blog #438 - November 4, 2009

Ian Watt Speaking at Tom Ferry's Realtor Event in San Diego

Ian
Watt speaking at Tom Ferry's realtor event in San Diego about how he
has changed his business from offline to 100% online. If you want to
voice your opinion or if you don't care for Ian's comments please email
your feedback to ianwatt@ianwatt.ca and visit http://www.ianwatt.ca/RealEstateVideos for all the Ian Watt Real Estate Video Blogs.

Captured by a Canadian in the Crowd - Thanks!

Ian Watt: First time in in mega few excuses, I'm not a professional
speaker, I'm not a trainor. I'm realtor that's all I do and and its
nice they can talk to you guys about this. Of course my name is Ian
Watt I sell condos in Downtown Vancouver and if you are on twitter
right now it's @ianwatt. So please feel free bring out your blackberry
I thought what ever you have and twit I don't care if your hands down
like this. I do it all the time. Okay? So now I wanna ask you a few
questions. First of all, Who uses social media everyday for their
business? primarily in social media. Okay a few. How many people use
twitter? How? Okay. And how many people use facebook? Great! How many
people know who Gary Vaynerchuck talk is? Before I come in to this
event he give advice and then last question. How many people book their
hotel or research this hotel on line before they got here? Great great!
A lot of people, that's fantastic! Okay well I got in to this
businesses everybody else. I got it faking it. I got a suit, I got a
tie, I got a BMW and I pretended to be a realtor coz I didn't know what
the hell I was doing. But I did study a lot in sales trainors they
always say same thing people create relationships, faster
relationships, stay in touch and make the cycle go on and on and on. So
what I did took people out for dinner, took people out for lunch, I was
broke when I started and I'm doing pak pak pak pak. Before I was drunk,
I was I'm scorn, I was drinking a lot of grape. It was an awful and I
hated it but this is what they say to do. Of course I did all this
traditional marketing. I did my flyers, just listen to solds, the real
estate book which is gone over Vancouver fan club and BMW magazine, I
had closet folder around and I spam the hell out of people. At every
email address that you get I spam it that's all I did. Oh this is
really embarrass and it's fantastic. But people got tired of spam and i
think in Vancouver or in Canada we gotta have a no spam guys which will
have a ten thousand dollar fine and their probably make a few examples
of people coming out. So I spend five thousand dollars a month on self
promotion that's sixty thousand dollars a year. What I realize that at
2007 when I got audited I didn't really make all that much money.
That's a big wake up call when the government knocks on your door. And
I thought there's gonna be a new model. something that is profitable,
something that scalelable, something to the road reach, something with
a long tail, nibble and agile and something that creates a business.
Because as realtors when we shut our phone off, what happen is we shut
our business off. We own a job, we know how to business. That's the
terrible thing about being a realtor especially if your working on your
own. That's for sure. So I fell in love with web and what happens in
web now. Same thing the sale trainors did meet new people, create
relationships faster those relationships and stay in touch and in 2007
the market was still going really hot in Vancouver. I dropped all my
print a. because I couldn't afford it and b. coz this was the new way,
this is not fad this was a trend that was going and everyone thought I
was insane because this was I was doing so well and nobody really got
it. In 2007 who's two years ago I was an early a adapter and now its
mainstream. Let's look about how much the world is change things in ten
years. Okay, in ten years the reason why I must show you how much this
things (laughing). So so anyways in ten years of market lists or the
real estate brokerage changed a lot and the world changed a lot.
Unfortunately we as the realtors never change. So back in 1999 super
sale is on fire. Everything was all about the big brokerages was
affected, real estate gimmicks were huge and eyeballs were on
newspapers. In 2004 here and then he have banned in ugly websites with
gimmicks all over them okay. We have flipping houses in there and
eyeballs are in real estate before or a HD TV and all those other fine
shows and the glamorous life of realtors, people buying cars they
couldn't afford. Now in 2009, were almost in 2010 the world is changed
again. If we looked at that glamorous life, it's not so glamorous
anymore. Foreclosures foreclosures and I did not further swipes.
Foreclosures are on fire, its everywhere even in Canada and I was
shifted to google and on to twitter and facebook and the brand is no
longer on brokerages. I'm sorry if somebody in here is gonna be upset
about this the brand is now me and its you and you and you nobody cares
where you work anymore. Okay, so look about thing about this 2009
people don't want advertising, they want transparency, they want
information, they want a relationship, they want trust and they want
authenticity. But the kicker is they want it all on from their computer
is true. Imagine this if we went to Marriott and we have on their
screen. Okay we wanna book a room but first you have to put in your
phone number, your name, your email address then we'll tell you what
our rates are. We'll show you what our rates are. Nobody know they
would go there they'll all go to Hyatt that's the important thing
people want information and you as consumers want information but you
as realtors don't want to provide that information or we're too lazy to
do that. Now back to this you as the brand. The big brokerages had
their hey day and I'm sorry to offend some of you guys who own the
brokerages but before there was local advertising, there was national
advertising, there was a credibility and a brand behind you. And also
you get to go to this wonderful conventions you trade your face off and
you exchange business cards in hope to get a referral. We don't need
that anymore because now there are so many different channels. We are
the brand so there is back in the day there wasn't much room. There is
four channels who ever run the channels they are on the stars. But now
everyone has the website and we can all be stars of our own domain. And
it doesn't matter if one person, ten people or million of people come
to my website, it's just as long as the right person come. There's more
room for now than I and Justin. There's another there's tons of room in
Vancouver for another Ian Watt and there's a tons of room for another
Gary Vaynerchuck. Yeah, I heard that I shaved my head because she kept
on talking to me but keep the secret but there is a, there's a local
wine merchant break down the street and take a video blog everyday.
About wine of course there's a market national like everyone comes in
and consider electric guy like everybody gonna likes him but if the
local guy didn't buy the wine locally. Probably he can't shift to
Vancouver anyways, to Washington or does another. So there's a room for
everybody to do this. This is kinda difficult for me to explain this
but see if you can get this. I or John lives here I live right next
door. I'm a realtor John knows I'm a realtor. Every morning I get in my
car and I said to John Good morning John and he said Good morning Ian I
will re-tape back and forth, everyday we see each other and we get the
same thing. We have this social contract. He knows I'm a realtor when
he goes to sell his place I know he's gonna call me because we have
this almost obligation. But the only one that could beat me if I think
he had his family member. That's the social contract that is way type
of what we have. But imagine this , I he has to sell his house but I'm
five blocks away and we see each other every three months at the
supermarket. That weekends our social contract. That gives an
opportunity for someone else to get in there someone else to get that
relationship. And that's the whole thing in social media it makes me
see people every single day and I don't have to tell them what I'm
doing. They know I'm a realtor and they will know from our social
contract that when they go to sell who's name comes to mind. It's
probably me and it's gonna get entire entire. Social media is
established in new social contracts, it straightening the old ones, and
its expanding our sphere. It is fantastic. It makes us strong so over
time. I don't have to get hit by a car for anyone to see all my clients
or I don't have to scrub really bad. That's the thing about social
media. I think a big problem with the realtors is we don't wanna give
information. If we don't spend an hour a day on our website. Who will?
right? Imagine if you went to CNN everyday and they didn't update your
website. Who will go there? So give information is in my ideal world,
my phone would never ring. I don't want my phone to ring and right now
will do a little example on the MLS I have to have my phone number so I
put five five five five five five into my phone number coz I don't want
you to phone me I want them to email me. And that's for all the
realtors and this is a little experiment that I have going on for the
last last little week and its working on really well really well. The
phone time wasted in my ideal world people won't call me and say what's
your commission? Because its on my website, information is there. You
can see there is commission page on there. And in my ideal world people
won't ask my marketing I have all listed right there one to ten, top to
bottom. And I don't care you don't mind too as a realtor I don't care
if you steal my ideas. That's okay. And in my ideal world just like
Coach Tom Ferry and I we had a relationship even before we had meet.
And that's the important thing about social media. People email me all
the times and I wanna list my place and they watch me doing for six
months. I've never met them but they know what I do and where I work.
Now there's so many choices out there and I know its intimidating.
Everybody has like there's facebook or their twitter and there's tumblr
so many different type. I don't even know what to do but when I read
this book last week or two weeks ago of social one is coming out on
Amazon I think in a week. I had an advance copy coz I made the book. So
what they say is Don't let the tool scare you pick one and that sound
interesting and jump in, overtime your gonna figure out if it work for
you, and you'll figure out how to use it a little better. But don't be
intimidated by new tools, for me I use video, I use twitter, and my
twitter use my Facebook, yeah. everything is on there forever, yeah.
And I use my website, and my website is kinda like my ID card, my
credit card, everything filters to that. OK, now my tools,
Twitter..twitter for me is a community, it's information and news, it's
friendships, it's reversed staff, it's a referral database, and it's
now, it is word of mouth 2.0 or as Gary Vaynerchuck says in his book,
it is word of mouth on steroids and that's so true. Think about how
long it will take you to cold call 2,000 people. Not 2,000 people who
answer the phone, not.. 2,000 people who choose to listen your message
or door knock, I can send it out on twitter right now, it takes me 15
seconds and 2,000 people who have chosen to follow me get that
information, and it updates my Facebook. I never really open my
Facebook, my Twitter updates my Facebook, it's great, it's brilliant.
And then if I do a video, I confide it to Twitter, and anybody who
wants to watch it, will watch it, and it updates my Facebook again. And
that brings you to video, and video is so important, not everyone is
gonna be comfortable in front of a video. And if you look I've done 450
videos, and if you go back to my 1st one I sucked so bad, I was so
awful I can't even watch it, I'm so embarrassed. But I leave it out
there because it's an opportunity for everyone to see it's a learning
process. But think about video this way, and think about real estate
this way. Real estate is kinda like dating, if you were on Lavalife or
some sort of dating thing, and everyone has a static web or profile,
and it had their contact information, they like long walks on the
beach, blah blah and they have a photo, you don't really know anything
about them. Imagine 1 girl, 1 guy everyday puts up a new video and
says, "Hey, I'm Ian Watt. I'm out there and blah blah blah..." you
would know in 5 seconds if you want to date them or you want to punch
them in the face. And that's the thing, that is what it is with my
video. Not everyone is gonna like me and I want to tell you, don't be
everything to everybody, be something to somebody, because I'm not
gonna get all 3,000 sales in the downtown core this year. But if I can
get a percent that's huge for me. Not everyone's gonna like you, not
everyone gonna like me. I bet you that there is more people that hates
me in the real estate industry than like me, but it doesn't matter, as
long as I can get the people who are interested. And there are problems
with social media, it's recorded forever, and it could be taken the
wrong way or opinions may change things I may have said 2 years ago,
maybe it doesn't apply but it's still out there so people can take it
the wrong way and realtors don't get it, some realtors don't get what
I'm doing. And the real estate council and the real estate boards rules
are totally out of date. Technically, I could get suspended for using
Twitter because it doesn't have all my contact information. There's no
room to put in my brokerage and all that information in there. So the
brokerage or the real estate boards and councils have to adapt to this
things as well. And like what I said before ianwatt.ca is kind of like
my passport, my ID. All this social media things have to tie into this
so people understand who you are. They can't be just left there or
Facebook right there, it all has to be tied together. Real estate has
changed, the eyeballs has changed, people's brains has changed, the
technology has changed, but the question is "have you changed?" Look at
that from 1999-2004 to today. How much the world has changed. So my
guidelines here; follow who interest you, create content, give
information, be true and authentic, tell people what you do, and don't
sell. Nobody wants to be sold on the internet. They want information,
nothing sucks more than being invited to your friends house and oh,
dinners going to be 10 more minutes and we just want to tell you
something, we started Amrap, and you sit there thinking, Jesus Christ
how the hell do I get out of here. Your thinking about your stomach
illness, your looking for the door and this is your friend doing this
to you. In Twitter all you do is click, Facebook you click and you are
gone, you are out of there. And that's how you loose followers. People
know I'm a realtor, I take photos of the views from the condos and they
can contact me if they like it but they don't have to push and push.
Yeah, I know some dinosaur I call but it didn't works. That is true but
as realtors I think our biggest enemy is time, those are time wasters.
I couldn't have been pulled down here from Vancouver by horse but I
chose to take an airplane. Yes. It is so true you can door knock it
works but things are changing. We are realtors this are just tools I
just have to go out in John's properties. I still have to go there and
make relationships. I feel I know Tom a lot better from our dinner last
night. It's not our first dinner to talk face to face. But this are ice
breakers and there's a little fires because I know that when I see Tom
and he twits something. I can know that it was coming from coz I know
him more as a person. Social media is not a fact, this is the new
business model for the realtors. It is profitable, scalable, its road
reach, long tail, nibble and agile and it creates a business. People
are looking on my website right now and people are following on my
right now and if they ready to buy and sell they will contact me. I
won't collect email addresses anymore, I don't spam people anymore. The
information is there, if they wanna work with me they can. If you say
it doesn't work. It's taken me from the top ten to send of nine
thousand four hundred realtors in Greater Vancouver. I got one percent
and it change my business to five thousand dollars a month to about
three hundred to three hundred fifty dollars a moth under four hundred
dollars a month. That is huge. I'm not here to scare you, I'm here to
recruit you. You have a choice right now you didn't jump on a social
media or you can just do what you are doing but in two years the world
is change. So my traumatic is gonna be like two years from now. You are
in blaming room and you have a choice you can exit, you can do what we
are doing or you gonna let your business die. I gonna have some time
for Q & A and I know there are a million questions that you have
and people are frighten about this. They don't wanna do it maybe a
little bit traumatic but this is the realty. If you want to email me my
email is very simple ianwatt@ianwatt.ca. Very simple go to website find
me on twitter. Thank you.